your babion,' but your mere traveller, believe me. Echo. Leave me. Mer. I guess'd it should be some travelling motion pursued Echo so. Amo. Know you from whom you fly? or whence? Echo. Hence. [Exit. Amo. This is somewhat above strange: A nymph of her feature and lineament, to be so preposterously rude! well, I will but cool myself at yon spring, and follow her. Mer. Nay, then I am familiar with the issue: I'll leave you too. [Exit. Amor. I am a rhinoceros, if I had thought a creature of her symmetry could have dared so improportionable and abrupt a digression.-Liberal and divine fount, suffer my profane hand to take of thy bounties. [takes up some of the water.] By the purity of my taste, here is most ambrosiac water; I will sup of it again. By thy favour, sweet fount. See, the water, a more as the power of language than ourselves. In Todd's Milton, Vol. V. p. 368, is this passage: "This is mere moral babble, and direct "Against the common laws of our foundation; "Yet," says Hurd, "is bad; but, very inaccurate." Tickell and Fenton omit yet! All this comes from not understanding the phrase, and the consequent vile pointing. It should be, "I must not suffer this yet; 'tis but the lees, &c." i. e. however. This restores the passage to sense and rhythm: as it stood, it had but little of either. 7 Nor your babion,] i. ẹ. baboon. Our old writers spell this word in many different ways; all derived however from bavaan, Dutch. We had our knowledge of this animal from the Hollanders, who found it in great numbers at the Cape. running, subtile, and humourous nymph than she, permits me to touch, and handle her. What should I infer? if my behaviours had been of a cheap or customary garb; my accent or phrase vulgar; my garments trite; my countenance illiterate, or unpractised in the encounter of a beautiful and brave attired piece; then I might, with some change of colour, have suspected my faculties: But, knowing myself an essence so sublimated and refined by travel; of so studied and well exercised a gesture; so alone in fashion; able to render the face of any statesman living;' and to speak the mere extraction of language; one that hath now made the sixth return upon venture; and was your first that ever enrich'd his country with the true laws of the duello; whose optics have drunk the spirit of beauty in some eight score and eighteen princes courts, where I have resided, and been there fortunate in the amours of three hundred forty and five ladies, all nobly, if not princely_descended; whose names I have in catalogue: To conclude, in all so happy, as even admiration herself doth seem to fasten her kisses upon me :-certes, I do neither see, nor feel, nor taste, nor savour the least steam or fume of a reason, that should invite this foolish, fastidious nymph, so peevishly to abandon me. Well, let the memory of her fleet into air; my thoughts and I am for this other element, water. * Able to render the face of any statesman living;] To explain his looks, and guess at his intention and thoughts by them. The first folio has, tender the face, which seems to be corrupt. WHAL. I doubt, after all, whether the folio be not right: the quarto reads "to make the face," &c. that is, I believe, to put on the air and gravity "of any statesman living." Whalley found his Enter CRITES' and AsOTUS. Cri. What, the well dieted Amorphus become a water drinker! I see he means not to write verses then. Aso. No, Crites! why? Cri. Because▬▬▬ Nulla placere diu, nec vivere carmina possunt, Amo. What say you to your Helicon? Cri. O, the Muses well! that's ever excepted. Amo. Sir, your Muses have no such water, I assure you; your nectar, or the juice of your nepenthe, is nothing to it; 'tis above your metheglin, believe it. Aso. Metheglin; what's that, sir? may I be so audacious to demand? Amo. A kind of Greek wine I have met with, sir, in my travels; it is the same that Demosthenes usually drunk, in the composure of all his exquisite and mellifluous orations. Cri. That's to be argued, Amorphus, if we may credit Lucian, who, in his Encomio Demosthenis, reading in the octavo of 1716, an edition of no authority, and utterly beneath his care. 9 Enter CRITES.] Throughout the quarto he is called Criticus. By Crites here, as well as by Asper in Every Man out of his Humour, and Horace in the Poetaster, Jonson undoubtedly meant to shadow forth himself. This sacrifice to vanity, as it involved him in personalities, naturally increased the number of his enemies, and exasperated the hostility with which he was long pursued. Decker, in his Untrussing the humourous Poet, does not overlook this circumstance: "You must be called Asper, and Criticus, and Horace! Your title's longer reading than the stile o'the big Turk's: Asper, Criticus, Quintus, Horatius, Flaccus." It appears that the boy who performed this laborious part was John Underwood. affirms, he never drunk but water' in any of his compositions. Amo. Lucian is absurd, he knew nothing: I will believe mine own travels, before all the Lucians of Europe. He doth feed you with fittons, figments, and leasings. 2 Cri. Indeed, I think, next a traveller, he does' prettily well. Amo. I assure you it was wine, I have tasted it, and from the hand of an Italian antiquary, who derives it authentically from the duke of Ferrara's bottles. How name you the gentleman you are in rank with there, sir? Cri. "Tis Asotus, son to the late deceased Philargyrus, the citizen. Amo. Was his father of any eminent place or means? Cri. He was to have been prætor next year. Amo. Ha! a pretty formal young gallant, in good sooth; pity he is not more genteely pro Lucian, in his Encomio Demosthenis, affirms he never drunk but water] These are the words of Lucian, ovx vlws & Δημοσθενης συνετίθει προς μέθην τες λόγες, αλλ' ύδωρ πίνων. WHAL. 2 He doth feed you with fittons, figments, and leasings.] Perhaps the reading of the quarto is most eligible, and that is fictions; unless we suppose that fittons is an affected expression of this travelled gallant; which is not improbable. WHAL. The quarto has merely "fictions and leasings." It does not appear that fitton is an "affected expression," as it is used by some of our plainest writers. Thus old Gascoigne, "To tell a fittone in your landlord's eares." And North, in his Translation of Plutarch, "In many other places, he commonly used to fitton, and to write devices of his own." It seems synonymous with feign, or fabricate. Figment is thus explained by Fletcher: “A figment is a candid lie, "This is an old pass." Four Plays in Onc. Leasing is, or ought to be, familiar to every reader. In Jonson's time, perhaps, these words had different shades of turpitude, which are no longer distinguishable. pagated. Hark you, Crites, you may say to him what I am, if you please; though I affect not popularity, yet I would be loth to stand out to any, whom you shall vouchsafe to call friend. Cri. Sir, I fear I may do wrong to your sufficiencies in the reporting them, by forgetting or misplacing some one yourself can best inform him of yourself, sir; except you had some catalogue or list of your faculties ready drawn, which you would request me to shew him for you, and him to take notice of. Amo. This Crites is sour: [Aside.]-I will think, sir. Cri. Do so, sir.-O heaven! that any thing in the likeness of man should suffer these rack'd extremities, for the uttering of his sophisticate good parts. [Aside. Aso. Crites, I have a suit to you; but you must not deny me: pray you make this gentleman and I friends. Cri. Friends! why, is there any difference between you? Aso. No; I mean acquaintance, to know one another. Cri. O, now I apprehend you; your phrase was without me before. Aso. In good faith, he's a most excellent rare man, I warrant him. Cri. 'Slight, they are mutually enamour'd by this time. Aso. Will you, sweet Crites? Cri. Yes, yes. [Aside, Aso. Nay, but when? you'll defer it now, and forget it. Cri. Why, is it a thing of such present neces sity, that it requires so violent a dispatch? Aso. No, but would I might never stir, he's a |